Hanger for fabric and supporting assembly therefor

ABSTRACT

A hanger intended for use to support fabric lengths in pendent, vertical roll form. The hanger includes a main member, supported horizontally at its midpoint, with fabric securing units fixed to its ends. Each securing unit includes an arm supported below and transversely of the main member by a support. Two spaced, pointed pins secured to the arm are adapted to pierce and pass through edges of the fabric to hold it on the arm. The arm is stiffened by a rigid brace extending upwardly to the main member. A safety bar spaced above the arm rests on the pins to cover the points. The safety bar has an opening surrounding the support, which permits it to slide up and down the support without rotation.

nited States atent' [191 [111 3,844,499

Berkowitz Get. 29, 1974 HANGER FOR FABRIC AND SUPPORTING PrimaryExaminer-John W. Huckert ASSEMBLY THEREFOR [76] Inventor: MiltonBerkowitz, 500 E. 85th St.,

New York, NY. 10028 [22] Filed: Mar. 8, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 339,160

Related US. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 104,362, Jan. 6,1971,

abandoned.

[52] US. Cl. 242/55, 206/408 [51] Int. Cl B65h 75/02 [58] Field ofSearch 242/77.l, 55; 206/408 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS2,455,357 12/1948 Dearing 242/77.1

2,831,641 4/1958 Hart 242/55 3,107,871 10/1963 Schwartz 242/77.l X

Assistant ExaminerEdward J. McCarthy Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Kenyon &Kenyon Reilly Carr & Chapin [5 7] ABSTRACT A hanger intended for use tosupport fabric lengths in pendent, vertical roll form. The hangerincludes a main member, supported horizontally at its midpoint, withfabric securing units fixed to its ends. Each securing unit includes anarm supported below and transversely of the main member by a support.Two spaced, pointed pins secured to the arm are adapted to pierce andpass through edges of the fabric to hold it on the arm. The arm isstiffened by a rigid brace extending upwardly to the main member. Asafety bar spaced above the arm rests on the pins to cover the points.The safety bar has an opening surrounding the support, which permits itto slide up and down the support without rotation.

2 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTEB OBI 29 I974 (Q- WWW! HANGER FORFABRIC AND SUPPORTING ASSEMBLY THEREFOR This is a division, ofapplication Ser. No. 104,362 filed Jan. 6, 1971 now Pat. No. 3,720,324issued on Mar. 13, 1973.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a hanger forfabric, of the type which is commonly used by fabric retailers forstoring piece length fabrics in pendent, vertical roll form.

In the purveying of fabrics at the retail level, it is often necessaryfor the retailer to store piece lengths of fabric as hanging verticalrolls where the nature of the fabric requires it to prevent crushing(e.g. velvet). Frequently the fabric is supplied to him by thewholesaler or manufacturer on a reel of the type disclosed generally inWilliams Pat. No. 3,347,484, from which the material must be unwound andtransferred to a hanger type of support.

One such hanger previously in use comprises a straight, horizontal,rigid bar with a hook at its midpoint for attachment to a suitable railand with fabric securing units secured to its opposite ends. Eachsecuring unit includes two slender rods secured to opposite sides of thebar extending downwardly in spaced parallel disposition. At their lowerends the rods are bent through 90 to form transverse arms extendinghorizontally in opposite directions from the bar. The arms at theirtransverse extremities are bent upwardly to form pins sharpened at theirupper extremities. In use the fabric length is wound round and round thehanger with the pins being forced through the selvedge edges of thefabric to support the fabric as a pendent vertical roll from the hanger.

To avoid the obvious dangers to eye and limb caused by the exposed,upwardly pointing pin members projecting through the fabric on thehanger, the previous hanger has utilized a safety bar spaced above andgenerally coextensive with the transverse arms. The safety bar rests onthe upper points of the pins thereby keeping them safely shielded, butcan be slid upwardly to expose the points when it is desired to attachfabric to the hanger.

Although generally satisfactory, certain problems have been associatedwith earlier hangers of the type described. For example, the use of astraight horizontal rod has required the vertical support rods to berelatively lengthy to position the transverse arms at an adequatedistance below the attachment book by which the hanger is supported onthe rail, to provide easy access for the retailers hand and arm toremove the hanger from the rail when necessary. As a result, this haspermitted the safety bar to have an excessive vertical range of movementalong the supports, which unfortunately permits the safety bar to becomevertically canted on frequent occasions exposing one or other of thepointed pins. When this happens, the exposed points can injure theretailer, and in addition the safety bar can become wedged against theinside of one of the pins causing considerable inconvenience in themechanics of placing the fabric on the pin points and removing it.Further compounding the problem, the slender stalk-like nature of thesupports may permit them sufficient play to allow the arm to moverelatively out of vertical alignment with the safety bar, again exposingthe points.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a hanger forfabric, intended to obviate or minimize problems of the type previouslynoted. More specifically, the present invention provides a hanger inwhich the possibility that one or other of the pins may inadvertentlybecome exposed and cause harm or inconvenience to the user of thehanger, is substantially eliminated.

In another aspect of the invention, the hanger is associated with asupporting assembly which permits the manufacturer and retailer todispense with the steps of reeling and unreeling the fabric on to andoff an intermediate reel used only for transportation.

In more detail, a hanger for fabric constructed in accordance with thepresent invention, includes a longitudinally extending main memberhaving an attachment, such as a hook, which may be connected to a rail,for supporting the main member in generally horizontal disposition. Twosecuring units are connected with opposite longitudinal ends of the mainmember and each includes at least one horizontal arm spaced beneath andextending transversely of the main member carried by a support extendingdownwardly from the adjacent end of the main member. Two upright,transversely spaced, pointed pins secured to the arm, are adapted topierce and pass through the fabric to hold it on the arm. A braceconnected with the arm extends upwardly to the main member at a pointspaced inwardly from the end thereof. To cover the exposed ends of thepins, a safety bar extending between the pins rests on their points. Thesafety bar has an opening receiving the support which permits the safetybar to slide upwardly to expose the points when this is necessary, whilepreventing rotation about the support.

It will be appreciated that each safety bar is limited in upward motionrelative to the associated support by impingement with the adjacent endof the main member. To insure against accidental exposure of the points,the main member is arced downwardly in both directions from its midpointso that the vertical extent of movement of the safety bar between itsextreme upper and lower positions is substantially less than thevertical distance between the arm and the midpoint of the main member.By reducing the extent of vertical travel of the arm in this way, thelikelihood that the safety bar will become misaligned with the pins isgreatly reduced.

The brace, by adding to the rigidity of the support, further preventsthe arm from flexing out of alignment with the safety bar, so that thesharp points of the pins do not accidentally become exposed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A hanger for fabric and supportingassembly therefor, constructed in accordance with the one preferredembodiment of the invention, is illustrated in the accompanying drawingsin which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a hanger for fabrics, and supportingassembly therefor, constructed in accordance with the preferredembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of portions of the hanger andsupporting assembly shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an end view of one end of the hanger for fabrics shown in FIG.1',

FIG. 4 is a side view of the portion of the hangerfor fabrics shown inFIG. 3',

FIG. 5 is a top view of a safety bar forming a part of the hanger shownin FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a hook connection forming a part of thehanger for fabrics shown in FIG. I, shown in an upright position; and

FIG. 7 is a side view of this portion of the hook connection shown inFIG. 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings, a hanger forfabrics and supporting assembly therefor, constructed in accordance withone preferred embodiment of the invention, is there shown.

The assembly includes a longitudinally extending rectangular wooden base2 which has a vertical shaft 4 detachably connected to the base adjacentits midpoint. Releasably secured to the upper end of the vertical shaft4 is a hanger 6 supporting a piece length of fabric 8, as a hangingvertical roll. The hanger 6 includes a main member 10 in the form of arigid bowed metal rod having securing units 12 at its opposedlongitudinal extremities, to which the fabric 8 is releasably secured.

The fabric may be wound on the hanger 6, and the supporting assemblycomprising shaft 4 and base 2, at the factory, and the assembled unitpackaged for shipment in a suitable carton 14 (FIG. I) to the retailer.The base 2 is generally coextensive with the floor of the carton 14 tolocate the assembly securely within the carton. The shaft 4 and base 2maintain the vertical spacing between the upper and lower ends of thefabric roll in the vertical carton I4, so that the upper end of thefabric roll does not fall to the bottom of the carton and become crushedand creased. The lower end of the fabric is spaced about one-fourth inchabove the base, and is held in position during transit by knotted tiecords 140 (FIG. 1) threaded through the lower selvedge edge of thefabric (using a needle or the like) and passed through lateral holes 14b(FIG. 2) extending through the base. Once at the retailers, the hangermay be removed from this carton and hung on any convenient rail by anattachment hook 15 (FIG. 2) secured to the main member, after which thebase 2 and shaft 4 are removed and returned to the manufacturer, ordiscarded. By the use of the supporting assembly comprising the base 2and shaft 4 in association with the hanger 6 it is possible to obviatethe intermediate steps of transferring fabric to and from the usualwinding reel to the hanger thereby effecting significant savings in timeand expense.

Each of the previously mentioned securing units 12 (FIG. 3) by which thefabric is secured to the hanger 6 includes two transversely spaced,parallel support rods 16 secured to opposite sides of the main member 10extending downwardly from the longitudinal end thereof. Each support rod16 at its lower end is bent through ninety degrees to form a horizontalarm 17. The arms 17 extend transversely away from the main member 10 inopposite directions. Fixedly secured to the undersides of the arms 17extending across the gap between the adjacent support arms I6 is a rigidlink 18 which imparts added rigidity to the structure. Each arm 16 atits extremity remote from the main member 17 is bent to an uprightposition to form a vertical pin 20 which is sharpened to a point at itsupper end.

To attach the fabric to the hanger the selvedge edge of the piece lengthof fabric is spiked over the pins 20 as the material is looped aroundthe hanger. The pins 20 pierce and pass through the fabric holding it onthe arms 16 so that the hanger supports the fabric as a pendent verticalroll.

As the sharp, exposed points of the pins 20 would obviously constitute aserious safety hazard if left uncovered once the fabric had been woundon the hanger, a safety bar 22 is provided to guard the points. Thesafety bar 22 is generally rectangular provided with dimpled portions 24at its opposite ends which receive and rest lightly upon the points ofthe pins 20 in a lower position of the safety bar. The safety bar 22 isguided for vertical travel from the pins by a central, narrow elongateslot 26 (FIGS. 4 and 5) through which the support rods 16 pass. The slotis of only slightly greater width than the thickness of the support rods16 and of only slightly greater length than the maximum distance betweenthem so that although vertical sliding motion of the safety bar 22 canoccur, rotation of the safety bar about the support rods out ofalignment with the pins is substantially prevented.

Of particular interest in the context of the present invention are thefollowing features intended to prevent accidental exposure of the pointsof the pins 20 by the safety bar 22. Where the range of travel of thesafety bar between the extreme upper and lower positions is relativelygreat, the safety bar may become canted vertically so that its lower endmoves inside and jams against one of the pins 20 leaving the upper endof the safety bar spaced vertically as much as half an inch or moreabove the exposed point of the other pin 20, creating a substantialhazard. In the present invention, the vertical range of movement of thesafety bar is restricted to absolute the minimum necessary to clear thepoints of the pins so that fabric may be put on it, thereby reducing thefree play of the safety bar 22 below that necessary to permit it tobecome canted in such a manner as to dangerously expose one of thepoints.

This reduction of vertical movement is achieved by configuring the mainmember 10 so that it slopes symmetrically downwardly and longitudinallyoutwardly from its midpoint so that the longitudinal ends of the mainmember are positioned only a relatively short distance above thehorizontal level of the arms 17. It will be appreciated the distancebetween the underside of the display rail on which the hanger 6 is to behung and the safety bar 22 when resting on the points (dimension A inFIG. 3) is essentially determined by consideration of convenience ofaccess of the retailers arm and hand when necessary to reach in andgrasp the hanger to remove it, and cannot readily be reduced. Part ofthis distance is provided by the vertical length of the attachment hookl5, and the remainder by the length of the support rods 16. It can beseen from FIG. 3 that if the main member 10 was a straight horizontalrod, the vertical range of travel of the safety bar 22 to its upperposition (limited by impingement with the underside of the adjacent endof the main member), would allow the safety bar 22 to move up asubstantial distance (represented by dimension B) so that an end of thesafety bar could clear its adjacent pin by a sufficient distance suchthat subsequent canting of the safety bar could cause the lower end tomove inside the pin 20 and jam against it upon the next downwardmovement of the safety bar. If this occurred the other end of the safetybar would expose its associated pin in the manner previously described.By inclining the main member downwardly from its midpoint, however, eachend of the main member is placed very much closer to the level of thesafety bar resting on the pins, greatly reducing the range of verticaltravel of the safety bar between its extreme upper and lower positionsrepresented by the di mension C. In practice the downward elevation ofthe end of the member is made so great that while the vertical range oftravel of the safety bar 22 permits it to clear the points of the pinssufficiently for the placing of fabric on them, the range of travel istoo small to permit the end of the safety bar to clear the associatedpins by a distance sufficient to permit the lower end of it to cantinside the pins.

Another problem with previous, relatively lengthy, support rods 16 hasbeen that their slenderness has permitted them to flex to a sufficientextent to move the pins 20 away from the path of descending travel ofthe safety bar 22, with the result that the points also becomeuncovered. To avoid this, the present invention provides a diagonalbrace 28 (FIG. 4) which is a rigid metal rod having its lower endpassing between the support rods 16 and fixedly secured to the link 18.At its upper end the brace 28 is welded to the underside to the mainmember 10 at a point spaced inwardly of its longitudinal extremity.

When the hanger is assembled on the shaft 4 for transportation in thecontainer 14, as previously disclosed, it is necessary to fold the hookdown to reduce package height. For this purpose, the hook 15 (FIGS. 6and 7) is provided with a vertical straight shank 30 having an enlargedball 32 at its lower end. The ball 32 is received within a mating,circular socket housing 32 fixedly secured to the main member 10 at themidpoint thereof. One side of the housing 32 is sufficiently cut away toprovide an opening 36 which permits the neck portion of the hook 15 toswing down so that the hook 15 can lie in a folded position flat againstthe main member 10, as shown by the dotted lines.

Two alternative embodiments of the hook 115 may be noted. In onesituation the hook may be completely detachable from the main member fortransit and be secured once the hanger is removed from the carton by asecuring device such as a screw thread or other engaging part. In theother, the hook extends upright during transit and carries the hangerfrom a horizontal transverse rail mounted at the upper end of the cartonl4.

The previously mentioned shaft 4 (FIG. 2) is provided at its lower endwith a reduced portion 40 which may be slid into a mating verticalopening 42 extending downwardly through the base 2. A transverse cotterpin 38 is slid through laterally aligned openings in the base 2 and theassembled shaft 4 to releasably secure them together. At its upper endthe shaft 4 is provided with transversely extending cutaway slots 46 toreceive the main member 10.

I claim:

1. A combination comprising,

an elongate hanger member,

two fabric supports secured to opposite ends of said hanger member, eachsaid fabric support including,

two generally horizontal arms extending transversely on opposite sidesof said hanger member, each said arm having an upwardly directed pointedpin at its outer extremity,

a vertical support releasably attached at its upper end to said hangermember and positioned generally centrally between said pins, and

a piece length of fabric, said piece length of fabric being wound insuccessive loops around said fabric supports with an upper selvedge edgeof the fabric being forced over each of said pins in sequence and ontothe adjacent arm thereby forming said piece length of fabric into apendent roll secured to and extending downwardly from said fabricsupports and at least partially enclosing said vertical support.

2. A method of supporting piece lengths of fabric utilizing a hangerhaving an elongate main member which is provided with two fabricsupports adjacent its opposite ends, each fabric support including twogenerally horizontal arms extending transversely on opposite sides ofthe main member with each arm being provided with an upwardly directedpointed pin at its outer extremity, the method including the steps of:

attaching the main member to the upper end of a vertically extendingsupport,

winding the piece length of fabric in successive loops about a verticalaxis extending generally centrally between the upwardly directed pointedpins; and

forcing an upper selvedge edge of the fabric over each of the pointedpins in succession and onto the adjacent portion of the adjacent arm aseach loop of fabric is formed, thereby creating a pendent roll of fabricsecured to and extending downwardly from the hanger and at leastpartially enclosing the support.

sen

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTIONPATENT NO. 1 3 844 499 DATED 1 October 29 1 974 INVENTOR S) 1 MiltonBerkowitz It is certified that error appears in the ab0ve-identifiedpatent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

In the Related U.S. Application Data change "Division of Ser. No.104,362, Jan. 6, 1971 abandoned" to read --Division of Ser. No. 104,362, Jan. 6, 1971 now Patent No. 3 720 324, issued on March 13, 1973.

In column 5, line 49, change "part" to read parts Signed and Scaled thissecond Day Of March 1976 A ttest:

RUTH C. MASON C. MARSHALL DANN Arresting Office 1 Commissioner ofParentsand Trademarks

1. A combination comprising, an elongate hanger member, two fabricsupports secured to opposite ends of said hanger member, each saidfabric support including, two generally horizontal arms extendingtransversely on opposite sides of said hanger member, each said armhaving an upwardly directed pointed pin at its outer extremity, avertical support releasably attached at its upper end to said hangermember and positioned generally centrally between said pins, and a piecelength of fabric, said piece length of fabric being wound in successiveloops around said fabric supports with an upper selvedge edge of thefabric being forced over each of said pins in sequence and onto theadjacent arm thereby forming said piece length of fabric into a pendentroll secured to and extending downwardly from said fabric supports andat least partially enclosing said vertical support.
 2. A method ofsupporting piece lengths of fabric utilizing a hanger having an elongatemain member which is provided with two fabric supports adjacent itsopposite ends, each fabric support including two generally horizontalarms extending transversely on opposite sides of the main member witheach arm being provided with an upwardly directed pointed pin at itsouter extremity, the method including the steps of: attaching the mainmember to the upper end of a vertically extending support, winding thepiece length of fabric in successive loops about a vertical axisextending generally centrally between the upwardly directed pointedpins; and forcing an upper selvedge edge of the fabric over each of thepointed pins in succession and onto the adjacent portion of the adjacentarm as each loop of fabric is formed, thereby creating a pendent roll offabric secured to and extending downwardly from the hanger and at leastpartially enclosing the support.